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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26041555">"Lights, Camera, Action!"</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitefalltohell/pseuds/infinitefalltohell'>infinitefalltohell</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Composer Regulus, Composer Severus, Costume Designer Lucius, Crack Treated Seriously, Director Lily Evans, Drama, Dumbledore has terrible ideas, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, French Blacks, French Malfoys, Friendship, Japanese Severus Snape, Love Interest Remus Lupin, Lucissa are a practically married, Lucius Malfoy is a coward, M/M, Makeup artist Marlene, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Narcissa is perfection, No one is evil, Nyx Rising References, Peter isn't a backstabbing bitch, Pining, Protagonist James Potter, Romance, School Play AU, Script Writer Narcissa, Set Designer Peter, Severus has a Japanese accent and it's adorable, Sexual Tension, Sirius is 15 and doesn't know how to write, Social Experiments, Sort Of, Strangers to Lovers, Theatre, but not really, makeup artist Sirius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:48:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,941</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26041555</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitefalltohell/pseuds/infinitefalltohell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Albus! I will not allow poor Mister Black to be involved in the corrupt mess that are the others!”<br/>“Which one?”<br/>“Oh, for Godric’s sake Albus, you know which Black I’m bloody talking about!”</p><p>Dumbledore was a fool, he truly was. Who would’ve thought that a monologue, a test, would’ve led to such disaster, such a horror, such a perfectly disastrous masterpiece? </p><p>Also, can James stop flirting with the director?<br/>(Indefinite hiatus, I just feel super uninspired for this story. Slow updates to be expected, and they won't be long either.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy, Regulus Black/Severus Snape, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Arrangements</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have been waiting to write this story for an incredibly long time, I hope everyone reading this enjoys it just as much as I enjoy writing it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Minerva~!” Dumbledore sang as he walked into McGonagall’s office. McGonagall looked up from the papers she was marking with a deadpan expression. She knew what he wanted, she knew she wasn’t able to get out of this, it was the same every time. </p><p>“No.” She simply stated, turning back to her papers and trying to read the illegible handwriting of her fifth year students. </p><p>“Ugh, this is ‘Hi, I’m Sirius, I’m 15 and I don’t know how to write.’ They’re 15, why?” She muttered to herself quietly, resisting the urge to change into her cat form and tear the horribly written paper to pieces. She continued to ignore Dumbledore as she passive-aggressively marked papers which were written terribly. Dumbledore sat across from her with a twinkle in his eye, waiting for her to look back up and pay attention to him. He knew it worked; it did every time. Every damn time.</p><p>“You may as well leave Albus, I’m not going to listen to your idiotic ideas.” Dumbledore sighed whimsically, placing a hand on McGonagall’s papers and covering them so she couldn’t mark them. McGonagall glared at him and Dumbledore smiled sheepishly, not really sorry at all.</p><p>“I have an idea, for testing the new muggle equipment.” McGonagall shook her head, placing her quill down and giving him her full attention. This one was new, not an excuse for an idea, not a cover up for drama.</p><p>“Then why are you talking to me and not Charity?” Dumbledore answered easily, and McGonagall had to admit (a bit reluctantly) that he had a point.</p><p>“Because you’re Deputy Headmistress.” McGonagall sighed rolled her eyes, Dumbledore had bizarre ideas he always went to McGonagall with, who would reject them with no hesitation. However, when the older man had his mind set on something, and truly set on something, nothing could stop him.</p><p>“Also, Charity has already said yes, I just need your word of approval. This is a democracy after all Minerva.” McGonagall cursed under her breath.</p><p>“Definitely not a democracy, but whatever you say.” Dumbledore chuckled as McGonagall rolled her eyes, Dumbledore continued to spoke with an ominous, yet excited voice.</p><p>“So… I would like to test the new muggle equipment by hosting a play of sorts. Well, a monologue for two people essentially. I have it all planned Minerva, what do you think?” McGonagall sighed; she couldn’t really see how Dumbledore was going to go wrong just yet. It was a logical solution, why would you test it any other way?</p><p>“Fine, tell me about it, who’s in it, and what are the roles?” Dumbledore cheered in his head, thanking the excessive amounts of lemon drops he had eaten for luck earlier on. </p><p>“Alright, the roles are as follows: We will have James Potter as the protagonist of this love story! Featuring, Remus Lupin as his love interest! Lily Evans will be the director, whilst Narcissa Black will write the scripts. Lucius Malfoy will create the costumes, Severus Snape and Regulus Black will be recording the songs for said play whilst Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon will do makeup. Also, Peter Pettigrew will be doing sets. This will be great! We’ll leave the students to do the rest, sounds good Minerva?” McGonagall meanwhile had never heard of a worse idea in her entire life. She realised, this was very much a ploy for drama, just disguised as a project.</p><p>“Mister Snape and Mister Potter, in the same room? The Marauders all in one project? Are we sure we want to pull poor innocent Mister Black into this? They’ll eat him alive Albus!” Dumbledore’s eyes sparkled dangerously as he chuckled softly and stood up from where he previously sat, pacing the classroom.</p><p>“And which Black would you be speaking of?” McGonagall’s eyes held frustration in them as she sighed.</p><p>“You know which Mister Black I’m talking about. The youngest one.” Dumbledore chuckled once more and merely shook his head at the disbelieving Professor.</p><p>“Well, you never know. Perhaps they’ll make a friendship out of this, who is to know what will happen in the future? Certainly not you, and certainly not I.” McGonagall sighed and shook her head.</p><p>“Fine, do it, I don’t care anymore.” She turned back to the awful essays she had to grade. Dumbledore’s eyes brightened and he dismissed himself quickly.</p><p>“Thank you, Minerva, I shall look forward to it. I’ll make an announcement in the Great Hall right this second.” McGonagall just shook her head and let him do what he wanted to. He left with the swoosh of a purple cloak and went to announce it. </p><p>--</p><p>“Students!” He announced, the entirety of the Great Hall falling silently at Dumbledore’s calling. Dumbledore cleared his throat and smiled down at his students, ready to see the drama play out. </p><p>“The new muggle studies equipment needs testing, so we have decided on running a monologue for two people to test said equipment. A play, essentially.” Students began whispering and making rumours hurriedly, excitement buzzing in the air.</p><p>“I hope I’m in it!” Sirius whisper-shouted to James, who agreed enthusiastically. Peter agreed with them eagerly and the three of them began to discuss the chances of all four of them being able to participate. </p><p>“I hope I have nothing to do with this.” Severus dead-panned, the other Slytherins merely snickering at their housemate’s sarcastic ways. </p><p>“Quiet, please! All roles have been decided already, there will be no auditions!” He then pulled out a piece of parchment which listed the roles everyone was to play. Dumbledore held a very bright twinkle in his eyes as he looked to all of the students and their curious eyes. Even the shyest and most reluctant of students were interested and in wonder as to who would be involved in this experiment.</p><p>“The main character and protagonist will be played by James Potter.” James stood up and everyone cheered loudly, Sirius being the loudest.</p><p>“Whoo! Prongs! You’ll finally get Evans to fall in love with you.” Lily rejected this loudly, rolling her eyes as she did so. James cheered loudly and so did the rest of Hogwarts, only slightly desperate for drama and tension.</p><p>James loved being in the light, he loved being the protagonist, he loved playing the hero, he loved to save the day. This role would bring all of those things, this role would bring a little spark to his life he hadn’t felt in a while. A few months ago, he had stopped bullying the one and only Severus Snape at the realisation that Lily was never going to love someone who hated her best friend. Her brother from another mother. Severus was to Lily what Sirius was to James, therefore, he stopped. However, not playing pranks was boring, and it was hard to withdraw himself from doing pranks on individual people. Hence, this might’ve brought him the entertainment that targeting others did previously. </p><p>“The love interest of the protagonist will be played by… Remus Lupin!” As Hogwarts cheered, slightly quieter, but loud nonetheless, Sirius sat back down and he exhaled deeply. Remus was playing the love interest, the love interest of all things! Was he to die of jealousy, or would he survive?</p><p>Unlike James, Remus preferred being the sidekick, he didn’t like to be in the spotlight. He didn’t feel the thrill James did, he felt pressure. And this was giving him a lot of pressure. He was supposed to play love interest to his best friend, someone who he saw as a brother. It was going to be extremely awkward, that, he knew for sure, however, he had to play his part. He believed in the fact that everyone had a part to play, and whether they realised it or not, they played it. </p><p>“The director for this play is Lily Evans.” James clapped and shouted in Sirius’ ear:</p><p>“Now I have a chance with Evans!” Sirius rolled his eyes fondly and clapped. </p><p>Lily was in shock, but in a good way. ‘I get to participate in an awesome project, but I also have to be with Potter, ugh. I suppose at least I’ll get to boss him around. It’s better than being the love interest.’ Lily loved assisting people, she loved helping people, and she believed perhaps that role would fulfill her desire to do just that. She loved taking on projects, she loved creating things to become a perfect masterpiece. </p><p>“The makeup artists are Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon!” James hugged Sirius as did the rest of the Marauders when they heard this, now, Peter was sure to get in. No one ever put three of the Marauders together and leave the other out, that was treachery in their eyes.</p><p>Sirius smiled despite himself, looking to Remus with shining eyes. Sirius wasn’t entirely sure of when this infatuation, this crush had begun exactly, however, it was magical. It affected him daily, seeing that smile pained him, both in good ways and bad, knowing that Remus was untouchable. He hoped that perhaps this was a chance for him and Remus to get closer in that way. He knew well that James would be more focused on Lily than anyone else, hence he focused to Remus instead.</p><p>Marlene twirled a strand of her hair with her index fingers, looking from the Ravenclaw table to the Gryffindor table and catching Lily’s eyes. Lily smiled at her reassuringly, she wasn’t alone. Marlene would be isolated, surrounded by Gryffindors and Slytherins, was she going to be pushed to the side, or would she contribute in some way or another?</p><p>“The music composers will be Severus Snape and Regulus Black!” Regulus smiled, albeit flustered when he heard of his role and looked to Severus, who had his head buried in his arms, groaning loudly.</p><p>“I don’t want this role…” He stumbled over the r in ‘role’, saying it as an l instead and groaning at this realisation. </p><p>Severus hated speaking to others, he hated being in the limelight, despised it even. For so long he had been an outcast, why would he have to go mainstream now? He rarely spoke to others unless he really had to, because of this, he still had a strong Japanese accent when he spoke English, consistently messing up letters in order for their Japanese substitutes, to the point where he said his own name with a b instead of a v if he wasn’t careful. He used Japanese honorifics on a subconscious level, he couldn’t count the amount of times he had accidentally said ‘sensei’ instead of professor. Ugh, this was going to be terrible.</p><p>Regulus was both nervous and excited at the same time, smiling shyly also despite himself. He was surrounded by people his brother knew and loved, yes, however, he hoped to make the best of it. Perhaps, he would be able to strengthen his relationship with his brother, perhaps, he would make a name for himself that wasn’t ‘Sirius Black’s brother’. Perhaps, he would finally step out of the shadow of others.</p><p>“Script writer is Narcissa Black.” Slytherin house clapped politely and Narcissa looked to Lucius, who grinned and kissed her cheek impulsively. Her cheeks turned to a nice shade of pink and she turned away, holding the cheek which had been kissed.</p><p>This role would be perfect, she just knew. She would be able to create drama however she saw fit between the younger students with the power of her pen. She could write scenes in which humiliated them on some level, it was brilliant, it was perfect. Just like her.</p><p>“The costume designer will be Lucius Malfoy.” Slytherin house rolled their eyes ironically as they clapped, of course Dumbledore would pair Slytherin’s silver couple together (they refused to say golden because that colour was affiliated with Gryffindor house).</p><p>Lucius saw this as an opportunity, he saw this as a chance for him to finally convince his father of the passion he wanted to pursue. He had always wanted to make clothes, to beautify people, to make a silver clad model which the world would look up to. Narcissa supported everything Lucius did, as Lucius supported her. Narcissa held his hand under the table and smiled softly at him.</p><p>“Well done darling.” </p><p>“The set designer will be Peter Pettigrew.” The Marauders cheered and wrapped their arms around Peter, who grinned widely. </p><p>“Peter, ay! All of us are going to be together!” Sirius exclaimed cheerily, lifting up his water filled goblet and downing it as if he were making a toast at James and Lily’s wedding. </p><p>Peter was just glad to be included in something if he was being honest. He had always been the ‘outcast’ of the Marauders, he had always been the odd one out. With this project… perhaps Peter wouldn’t be so left out anymore, perhaps he wouldn’t be so alone anymore. </p><p>“Alright, that’s everyone. Thank you for listening, you may make your way out of the Great Hall.” The Marauders were first to stand and everyone followed, gossiping enthusiastically with one another. </p><p>“We’re going to have a great time!” James cheered, draping one arm over Sirius and another over Peter, Sirius draping his other arm over Remus. </p><p>Severus groaned loudly to Lily, who chuckled at his expense.</p><p>“Lily-chan, how am I supposed to sing in English when I have a Japanese accent?” Lily patted Severus’ back reassuringly and smiled gently.</p><p>“You’ll do great Severus; I know you will.” He rolled his eyes and sighed softly.</p><p>“Whatever you say Lily-chan.”</p><p>They all had desires of some kind, they all had hopes, they all had dreams that they wished to be fulfilled. However, would this project make said dreams come true or only create more drama?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Rehearsal; The First</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>All of those involved in the play had been given a piece of paper, which included: times for rehearsals, details, a map (although it was unnecessary) and a letter from Professor McGonagall herself. It was flattering that they had so much set up in so little time, Lily truly admired Professor McGonagall’s work ethic, she did. A lot of work had gone into this duet, it was brilliant, a stroke of genius. </p><p>As she entered the muggle studies classroom, she was surprised to see that all the tables had been pushed to the side of the room, and in that space only a single row of chairs remained. Sure, the classroom looked the same as it always did, it wasn’t as if there were any dramatic changes, however, Lily could feel the difference in the room, as stupid as that sounded. She could feel the atmosphere of the room grow friendlier, warmer, almost. The Marauders sat in four of said chairs, discussing excitedly where they were going to work.</p><p>“I’m basically useless so I can hang around wherever I want.” Sirius shrugged, laughing good naturedly. The makeup did a lot in the actual performance, however, during the rehearsals there was little to no things they could actually do to keep things interesting.  </p><p>“I have a little room to myself!” Peter exclaimed. “Look!” He pointed to a door which stated: ‘Sets’. There were multiple other doors like this one, however they all had different words on them, meaning different things. Remus chuckled fondly at seeing the doors, they reminded him of the signs kids put on their bedroom doors to mark which one was theirs. It was a weird comparison; yes. However, Remus was not normal, therefore that suited him just fine. </p><p>James smirked and looked behind him, directly into the eyes of the one and only Lily Evans.</p><p>“Evans… why hello there. Did you do something with your hair? It looks beautiful.” Peter and Sirius laughed at James, who held a love-sick look in his eyes whilst Lily sat down, attempting to hide the blush on her cheeks and failing. James smirked when he saw this, calling out to her teasingly.</p><p>“What’s got you red Evans?” Lily ignored him and went to a clipboard with her name on it, shuffling through the papers quietly and looking at her instructions instead. James always tried to find ways of making her flustered, from downright pathetic to smooth cha-cha. She hated to admit it, but his words were starting to work, they were starting to take a toll on her in a positive light.  </p><p>Next, Narcissa entered the room with a whipped Lucius in tow. Sirius snickered when he saw the two, tapping Remus’ shoulder to show him. Remus snorted when he saw the couple, they were so obviously in love, it was almost disgusting. Almost, they were too dignified to be ‘disgusting’.</p><p>Regulus entered next and glanced around, pleasantly surprised when he saw a door stating: “Studio”. It almost felt like home, as if it could compensate for the suffering he put up with when with his family. As if it could make up for the cold halls of Hogwarts, which were meant to be home, but didn’t seem to be home. After looking at it for a while, he then opened said door and flinched from what he saw. Severus already sat in the room, back hunched over a notebook, computer screen lightening his face and exhibiting his features. Regulus closed the door behind him and nervously took a seat at the computer next to Severus, turning it on reluctantly. </p><p>Severus had arrived long before the others, wanting to get a head start on possible ideas for the tracks.  </p><p>“Hello…?” Regulus said quietly. Severus snapped his head towards Regulus, he hadn’t even noticed him, he was so immersed with his notes. He pushed his notes to the right and sat up, schooling a dead-pan expression.</p><p>“Black-san, was there any reason why you have decided to interrupt me?” The honorific spilled from Severus’ lips, and Regulus couldn’t help but like it somewhat. However, sometimes Severus’ lack of tact was not a good thing. Regulus winced silently and turned to his computer before turning back to Severus. Did he need a reason? Was there supposed to be a reason? </p><p>“I was just… saying hello, I suppose.” Severus sighed and nodded, muttering a quiet “Okay.” before turning back to his notebook. Regulus grimaced in defeat and got Word running on the old computer. It would be a very long day.</p><p>--</p><p>Marlene too had entered a while ago, taking her seat next to Lily with a bang. She talked eagerly about her excitement, Lily joining in with less energy to her, but energetic, nonetheless. James yawned, watching Lily as she spoke. </p><p>“When will she start?” Narcissa glanced up from her notebook elegantly and glanced to the impatient James who shifted in his chair and faced the front.</p><p>“As soon as I finish the dialogue for the first scene.” Narcissa stated firmly, continuing to write as if she wasn’t annoyed by circumstances she could hardly influence or control. Soon enough, she finished the dialogue and handed it to Lily, who looked it over.</p><p>“This looks good. Potter, Remus, come get the sheet with the lines on it.” Remus and James walked to Lily, collecting the parchment and frowning once they saw what it was. </p><p>“It’s just Remus doing a monologue on how long he’s had a crush on me?” Remus shook his head, snickering slightly. </p><p>“I don’t have a crush on you James.” James shrugged smoothly; eyebrows raised in a comical expression.</p><p>“You don’t, but your character does!” Remus sighed and stole the script from James, reading it over carefully.</p><p>“I’ll practice this, thank you Lily.” It was then that they heard a shrill scream from inside the costume designing room, forcing the classroom into silence. Narcissa sighed, as if she had dealt with it before, and entered the costume room, only to see a terrified Lucius glancing at a tiny black spider on the wall.</p><p>“Narcissa, darling, it’s plaguing the wall. It’s going to kill me! Narcissa, kill it, please!” Narcissa snickered loudly, Lucius had a ridiculous phobia of bugs, spiders in particular. To him, if it had the potential to be poisonous, it had 8 legs and it could crawl, it was terrifying. Narcissa then kissed a whimpering Lucius’ forehead, laughing at the cowardice he showed.</p><p>“I’ll kill the spider, okay?” Lucius nodded, watching in a bewildered sense as Narcissa crushed the spider easily with her shoe and wiped it off at the doormat by the door. Lucius nodded, relieved. He then stood up as if it never happened, wrapping his arms around Narcissa. Narcissa chuckled fondly and wrapped her arms around him in return. He was a coward, but he was her coward.</p><p>--</p><p>“I’m bored of this acting stuff!” James exclaimed, throwing the parchment with his lines on it in the air with a huff. “The script isn’t even complete, like, come on! We should celebrate!” Sirius nodded, standing up and wrapping an arm around James’ shoulders. </p><p>“Yeah, come on guys! Let’s eat a bag of chips or some shit.” Remus frowned at the barely-a-script script which laid on the floor. He then sighed and looked towards the two boys <br/>who held pleading eyes. </p><p>“Fine, let’s eat a bag of chips.”</p><p>10 minutes later, and all of the teenagers sat on the floor in a circle, surrounded by a bag of chips which probably didn’t feed that many people. They ate nonetheless, talking to each other in loud voices as if they weren’t expecting to get caught not working.</p><p>“I swear, you’re so lucky you’re holed up in that studio Sev, you don’t have to put up with Potter’s bullshit.” Next to her, James let out a noise of protest before turning to his fellow Marauders.</p><p>“My bullshit? I’m hurt Lily fairest; I’m hurt!” Severus snickered, shaking his head and turning back to Lily.</p><p>“Lily-chan, why did you take on this role if you knew that Potter-san would be here? You could’ve talked to Professor McGonagall.” Lily shook her head, whilst others turned around at the foreign accent that creeped from him. Out of the many foreign people there, he had the strongest non-English accent, and it embarrassed him shitless.</p><p>“I wanted the role; I can risk interacting with Potter to be here. Why didn’t you ask to get out if you hate this role so much?” Severus sighed.</p><p>“I tried Lily-chan, sensei- I mean, Professor McGonagall didn’t let me. Said I needed an actual reason other than ‘I hate social interaction’.” Lily frowned gently. </p><p>“At least we can suffer together!” Severus cursed in Japanese under his breath, he never swore in English, causing Lily to laugh slightly and for Regulus to turn around. Huh, he never knew Japanese of all languages could be so sexy.</p><p>“What is going on here?” The teenagers fell silent as they looked to Professor McGonagall, who had a thin frown across her lips. They were meant to be working, not eating chips and talking amongst themselves. </p><p>“Professor…” James found himself stuck on what to say. Narcissa yawned and leaned against Lucius, crunching on a potato chip quietly.</p><p>“You should be working, not slacking off to eat chips. Mrs Malfoy, I mean, Miss Black, how much of the script have you written?” Narcissa gulped, her work not exactly up to par with what was expected of her.</p><p>“Um, I’ve done a scene.” McGonagall looked down at her disappointedly and Narcissa looked to Lucius, who shook his head.</p><p>“Mister Potter and Mister Lupin, have you perfected those lines?” They shook their heads, not daring to say a word.</p><p>“Well then… get to work!” McGonagall then walked out, shutting the door behind her. That woman was vicious when she felt like it, truly.</p><p>They all had their work cut out for them, oh yes, they did.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter is shit, I'm well aware. I was out of ideas for this one, and I'm sorry, I can promise there will be improvement in future chapters.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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